Recent entries

Polycore

And I feel like I agree with you Will, there shouldn't be too much emphasis on the levels, it's not the interesting part of the story, only some context and eventually motivation for the characters

Will Wight

I wholeheartedly agree, but evidently there are a lot of people out there who really do love the stats and the levels and the stat pages and all that stuff. It bores me, but it seems there are a lot of people out there who specifically like that stuff. Idk why.

For me, the interesting parts of having a world that worked like a game with stats and levels and everything would be how all that junk impacted the story

I mean, I want there to be fewer stats and shorter stat pages so that each of the stats and skills has more impact. When the MC has one level each in sewing, dodging, jumping, leaping, underwater basket-weaving, interpretive dance, hat-juggling, carrot-eating, and everything else they've ever done, I don't want to see that on their stat page.   That's a pretty cool element, I like that.   The pile-up of skills is what turned me off of Kumo desu ga, Nani ga?, which was once one of my favorites. But she got a point in a skill any time she did anything for the first time. Literally anything. It drove me crazy. She spins her web into a lasso? Bing, point in web manipulation and lasso-tying.   If there are too many, I can't keep track of them. And if they're not important enough to keep track of, don't include them in the first place. D&D is actually a great example, because frankly it would make a really good LitRPG. And now we have come full circle to the early days of fantasy novels.

Lil' Blue

Are Monarch bodily fluids highly coveted elixirs?

Will Wight

Just the blood. None of the others have any special properties.The parts of their Remnants would be far more valuable, if you could harvest them.

Questioner

Elder Whisper vs. Li Markuth

Will Wight

Elder Whisper might be able to hide and run, if the terms of the battle allow such a thing. But Li Markuth very well might be able to catch him, and if he can, then Li Markuth wins it. He's a level above Whisper.

Bamfious (paraphrased)

When can we expect to learn why Yerin didn't get sword arms at Truegold?

Will Wight (paraphrased)

You can expect that in the next book. Maybe.

Bamfious (paraphrased)

Can an Archlord get to Monarch without becoming a Sage?

Will Wight (paraphrased)

Yes.

Bamfious (paraphrased)

Is there a benefit to doing Sage?

Will Wight (paraphrased)

There is a definite benefit to doing Sage.

Bamfious (paraphrased)

Did the scene with Northstrider cycling by the dragons hint at soulfire at all?

Will Wight (paraphrased)

No, but it did hint at a different magic system.

Okazaki

i missed the conversation, but yes, sages can advance.

Questioner

I was quite disappointed at Kelsa disappearing from the story given she was probably my favorite Unsouled character :p

Will Wight

Early on in development, I had considered having Kelsa traveling with Lindon, and Yerin's character being a guy. But I couldn't justify Kelsa's presence, really, and I thought Yerin worked better as a woman. So Kelsa got left behind.

That's...certainly not the last we'll see of her, though. Spoilers.

Aru

They can exploit the gamer demographic, which is huge relative to the fantasy novel reader demographic, and they pad page count with long tables     Which boosts Kindle Unlimited money because of page turns.

Will Wight

I'm not a LitRPG fan or author, but this is a misapprehension that for some reason keeps spreading. Stat pages and tables almost never significantly increase page count or increase the amount of Kindle Unlimited revenue. The increase is laughably small. No one I've ever seen is including those stat pages to boost word count or page count, but everyone thinks they are. It baffles me. They're including those stat pages because it's expected in the genre and it makes the world feel more like a game. If there were a way to include a hyperlink so that you could check the character's stat page at any given point in the book and see his stats, that would become the norm. Unfortunately, including stat pages is just awkward in a written book, so they don't have great options.

Questioner

The people who have been asking how strong Simon would eventually become in the grand scheme of things have been making me think that it would actually be really interesting to see the Cradle universe from the perspective of a character that isn't from Cradle eventually. Especially given how broad the outside world's powers seem to be, compared to the relatively narrow set of powers Travellers have. So it would be interesting to see Simon go beyond the Traveller's Gate world (how does the limitation of Valinhall's chains interact with the seemingly unlimited power in the outside universe?)

Will Wight

Mild spoiler alert, but if you're this deep into this thread and you still care about spoilers...RIP you.

Eventually, we'll get to see how the Cradle magic system stacks up against others.

Also, Valin gathered the Valinhall powers essentially by running around outside.

Mierin

and why do you play an inferior game

Will Wight

I don't know why I sometimes play WoW. That's a great question.

Mierin

will what is your league lane/main/waifu

Will Wight

Jungle/Warwick/Sona

Mierin

the author kept trying to like pull game stats out of his ass like it was wow where you knew everything going into it instead of giving the reader a system to work with

Will Wight

Yeah, that's why I'm not a fan of LitRPG as a genre     I feel like I should be, and part of me wants to support the LitRPG community, but it's just not my cup of tea     I want it to be, though. It makes me want to write some LitRPG, to see if I could create a LitRPG I really liked

Aru

Alright thanks Will. I suppose it's time for me to try and get back in touch with some people I knew in the fantasy creative writing club back at University. I don't think I'm going to get a MFA though. I don't know about your experiences but back when I was in college people kinda looked down on SF & F relative to real literature, which turned me off on my schools whole creative writing program. I'm not sure if it was different for you at school but I realized SF & F just wasn't something they get to explore in that program. It's a shame but even though Fantasy has been growing by leaps and bounds there's still plenty of people in academia who can't conceive of it qualifying as literature.     Which is bogus in my mind. Since when were their rules on what's literature and what's not? I believe in his writing course Brandon Sanderson talked about how SF & F is the only genre that's unbounded and unrestricted in scope, which I wholeheartedly agree with.

Will Wight

Yes. Exactly the same. They're all about the literary fiction train, which is complete crap and I disagree with their fundamental philosophy on literature almost totally. My master's was good for honing my basic skills in an environment where they made me write a lot, critique other people's work, and evaluate critiques of my own work. Those are all vital skills. I also got a very good grasp on what my strengths and weaknesses are as a writer.     You can learn all those lessons for free. However, I wouldn't have. I wasn't disciplined enough for it. So the master's was worth it for me.  

Questioner

Are Cradle characters stronger than any other Iteration?

Will Wight

No, but they have the best average growth rate. It's extremely rare for someone of another Iteration to ascend past their starting power scale, but with Cradle it happens reliably 2-3 times per generation.

Questioner

Metaphysical Great Elders can rip one apart on the molecular level. You said the strongest Cradle character could solo them. Do they have defenses against that?

Will Wight

Yes, they do have a defense against that. At a certain point, your spirit gets strong enough that your madra gives you essentially complete control over your own body. You can resist forces that would affect you directly.

Also, at that level, they have access to powers other than madra that can fight against the Great Elders.

Questioner

What qualities did Yerin have that made the Sword Sage take her on as a disciple?

Will Wight

This gets into spoiler territory, because I will be answering that question thoroughly in the series, but suffice it to say that she was born strong. And she demonstrated that at an early age.

Questioner

Eight-Man Empire versus Sha Miara...

Will Wight

She'd have more difficulty dealing with them as opposed to Northstrider, because they're relying on individual power and a formation that manipulates aura when they fight. In the end, it's roughly even, and it depends on a bunch of variables, but here's the bottom line: if Sha Miara can figure out and break their formation quickly, she wins. If she can't, they're sharing and pooling power, and they will overwhelm her.

Questioner

Yerin vs. Simon with only steel

Will Wight

Yerin. She's trained longer with the sword, she would be physically weaker than him but not so much that she would be overwhelmed, and she can do crazy magic things that Simon can't.